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'Isn't this perfect?' Wei Ying smiles, stretching out his palm to catch the raindrops as they fall.
It is one of the rare moments of quiet leisure the two get to spend together in the Cloud Recesses. They stand on the porch of the Jingshi, contemplating the peaceful scene before them.
It has been drizzling since morning. Everything wears a fresh look. Droplets of rain dot the magnolia branches, the world turned upside down in their depths. The bamboo forest is swaying in the gentle breeze, leaves rustling as if they can not contain their joy. Somewhere in the distance, someone is practicing the zither.
Lan Zhan looks over at Wei Ying. The latter stands beside him, gazing into the distance. Even though he smiles, there is a wistful look on his face, as if he misses something, as if he is remembering things from a lifetime ago.
'What is it?' asks Lan Zhan.
Wei Ying is silent a long time before he replies.
'When I was a kid,' he says, letting out a quiet sigh, 'Jiang Cheng and I used to go for swims in the lotus lakes during the rain.'
He laughs suddenly, perhaps at a recollection. 'We played this game where we had to balance a droplet of water on a lotus leaf. The one who could keep it there the longest would win. Of course each of us tried our best to make the other drop it! The number of times we got punished for staying out too long in the water!'
'You miss him.' It is a statement.
'Perhaps...'
'Wei Ying, you can always—'
'He wouldn't appreciate it.'
Lan Zhan doesn't press the matter. Some wounds need time to heal. He nods once, turning to watch the soft falling rain.
'You know what,' Wei Ying says suddenly. 'You can't enjoy the rain by simply watching!' He flings off his shoes and dashes into the rain outside. 'You need to feel it.'
'Wei Ying!'
But Lan Zhan knows it is no use. As he fondly watches the other twirl around in the rain, laughing and giggling like a child, he cannot help musing. This man was born to roam where he pleased like the wind, make paths where none existed like a stream. He cannot be tamed. Lan Zhan will never take that away from him if he can help it. He knows how torturous it is for someone with such a free spirit to stay within the confines of four walls. How stifling to be able to know there is an open world out there and yet not be able to enjoy it. One lifetime of suffering is enough. He will make sure Wei Ying never suffers the same again.
'Lan Zhan, c'mon!'
Lan Zhan smiles. With slow deliberation, he takes off his heavy outer robe, places his shoes beside the neatly folded clothes and steps barefoot on to the grass.